Listener 4239 Laureate By Wasp

[dr b]

A fun puzzle, I thought. The theme was unknown to me, so some Googling once the message from the omitted letters was clear was needed. Wikipedia to the rescue. A little more work was needed to get all the unchecked letters to work out, but all in all not too difficult and an enjoyable workout.

[PureListener]

Thanks Cruncher and perseverer.

[sunny-dave]

Well I finished it in fairly short order ... but can't say I'm that impressed.

As has been said already, if you haven't identified the Surname then you probably couldn't have completed the grid - so writing the Surname below is superfluous. There is also an inconsistency in the entry of the unclued entries which offends my sense of tidiness - can't say more without being too explicit.

[olichant]

I found the gridfill much harder than everyone else seems to have done, but don't think there is any meaningful ambiguity in the final solution. There is one tiny aspect of the preamble which I might have phrased differently, but I don't think it makes any material difference. Famous last words...

[magichour]

I don't think there is ambiguity here - the preamble makes it explicit as to how to complete the unclued entries. There is only one way to do so if following this instruction.

As for the surname, I think again you have to do what the preamble says. If it wanted the surname entered thematically, it would say so, but as others have said, there is no consistent way in which to do this.

Fun theme!

[Philoctetes]

Re: Surname. There is surely no "thematic" treatment that would make any difference.

[me99]

It seems to me that if you follow the penultimate sentence of the preamble, then you can't follow the first half of the last sentence - they contradict each other, don't they???

[olichant]

me99 - I'm not sure there's a contradiction there. Going back to earlier posts, though, I do wonder if the circled cells were as intended. Hey ho.

[tramart]

I see no contradictions, no ambiguity nor any need to enter the surname thematically. And there are the correct number of circled cells.

[IainGrace]

Embarked on this. Solved most clues including 10dn and got the idea. Not a theme we know well. While the name below the grid may be assymetric it does not appear to us to be in doubt.

[Alan7777]

I'm probably in the same camp as Tramart but the comments here are giving me some cause for concern. Have I missed something?

[lyrabelacqua]

That clunking sound you can hear is a late penny finally dropping. Lovely crossword, but glad it's done!

[iamamoose]

puzzled by most of the comments here..Tramart 19:42 mon is the about the only one that makes sense to me...

[iamamoose]

19:12 mon sorry

[Scorpius]

I'm beginning to think that too much is being given away here.

[crosswhit99]

"More" in the preamble refers not to the clues or their answers but to that item whose 20th anniversary is commemorated by this puzzle. I do however agree with you on the poor definition in 33.

Regarding the perceived ambiguity that tilbee and others have referred to, this is surely resolved by the fact that one of the preamble's "unchecked cells" contains a circle, thereby determining the numerical content of all such cells and removing the apparent contradiction that me99 has noted - its presence is entirely intentional for this very reason.

TB69 and others made reference to 22d, but surely there's no reason why the 2 verbs in the item commemorated cannot both act on a single cell at the same time ?

... and congratulations on your prize A G-S . Given your odds of winning, chances are you'll receive a newer edition next time !

[PureListener]

crosswhit99 - I think you should remove your post. I clearly gives too much away.

[scooterbug]

Isn't 6 ambiguous? Am I looking at a dated version of Chambers?

[Cloverjo]

Scooterbug, according to my version (2006) of BRB, there is only one answer that really fits.

[IainGrace]

Finished. This may be what some have been alluding to in earlier posts, but is the first word in 2 Across not "doubly" thematic?

[Scree]

Glad to see I'm not the only one finding an ambiguity.

It gives nothing away to say that (unless my process of elimination went wrong elsewhere) there are two ways to enter unchecked letters N, T, I, L and O. I can't see any hard and fast rule about how to thematically treat the unclued entries which would resolve this ambiguity.

I have no problems with the surname below the grid as the preamble doesn't ask me to treat it thematically.